Hey, Miss Kuchiki
by AquaPurpleBubble
Summary: A.U. “Ichigo?” She asked raising a hand to touch his face but dropped it before she could. “Is that really you?” He looked down at her, still not believing this was happening. It had to of been at least ten years since he'd last seen her. “It's me,..."
1. Do You Remember Me?

A/N: Hello, I was listening to **Cute Is What We Aim For**'s new cd and I got this idea from 'Miss Sobriety.' So yeah. Awesome cd, I had my doubts at first (the first cd will still be hard to trump) but it turned out to be awesome. So yeah, listen to it. And read this of course. It's an A.U. and I just had to urge to write it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or any of it's characters, and I don't own the idea of 'Miss Sobriety.' I hate thinking of new names for new brought in characters, so you might recognize the new names from other animes and mangas, so just to let you know, I don't own them.

Hey, Miss Kuchiki

Do You Remember Me?

"I'll be there in about ten minutes... yes I know... no, I'm near the McDonald's... Yeah... Okay... See you."

Ichigo sighed, ending the phone call he snapped his phone shut, accidentally fumbling with it.

"Shit." He cursed as he watched the phone fall from his hands ad tumble to the ground, continuing on it's journey for a few feet until it finally stopped. He quickly ran after it, hoping no one would step on it. It might have been cheap, but it wasn't _that _cheap. Foolishly, he didn't look where he was going, his mind was set on getting that damn phone.

A foot away from the phone and he bent down to pick it up. Halfway down, his head bumped into someone. The two people collided and they both fell down.

"I'm sorry," The woman mumbled, getting up and gathering all her things.

"No, it's my fault. I'm sorry." Ichigo picked up his phone that had thankfully gone unscathed then picked up a few of her things. "Here you go," He handed her her things, looking at her.

He widened his eyes as she widened hers. Familiar black hair covered half of her face and he impulsively lifted a hand and brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. She startled but stayed on the ground, as did he. They studied each other as if remembering each other from something.

"Do I know you from somewhere?" The woman asked breaking Ichigo from his thoughts. He stood up then gave her hand up, still piecing his memory or her together.

"Rukia? Kuchiki?" Ichigo asked uncertainly.

"Ichigo?" She asked raising a hand to touch his face but dropped it before she could. "Is that really you?"

He looked down at her, still not believing this was happening. It had to of been at least ten years since he'd last seen her.

"It's me, but is it you?"

She laughed good naturedly. "It's me."

They stood there awkwardly for a while longer before Ichigo hugged her.

"I can't believe it's you." Ichigo murmured.

Rukia hugged him back, breathing in his scent. She couldn't remember the last time she had smelt it.

Pulling back, Rukia assessed him. His face had matured but he still appeared to be the same Ichigo. His scowl seemed to have become less prominent. His hair was under more control yet still as vibrant as ever.

As Rukia took her time appraising him, he did so, too. Although she was smiling, he could tell she'd been through something that had taken the spark from her. Her eyes had a sad, resigned look. It was visible even though she tried hard to conceal it. But besides that, she was still short, if not shorter. She had gotten even more beautiful if possible and she too had matured.

"Wow." Ichigo surmised.

Rukia nodded her head still smiling.

A businessman in a hurry bumped into them reminding them that they were in the middle of a bustling sidewalk.

Ichigo glanced down at his watch. It was only 4:35 and he had nowhere he needed to go except home, where he really didn't want to go. Especially not since Rukia had suddenly appeared. Why go home to his clingy girlfriend when he could catch up with Rukia?

"Are you in a hurry or do you have anywhere that you have to go? Because if you didn't I was going to suggest coffee or something..." He trailed off.

"Oh, no. I have no where I need to be and coffee sounds good."

Ichigo smiled at her and began to lead the way to the small cafe a block down, all the while ignoring his vibrating cell phone. He knew it was mean to ignore his girlfriend and that he should at least try to make up some lie saying he wouldn't be back for a while, if not tell the truth. But he didn't want to ruin his time with Rukia just to tell her a simple thing. Who knew how long she'd be in town? Besides, his girlfriend would get over it.

"Here's your coffee, sir." The waitress handed Ichigo his basic cup of coffee then turned to Rukia before leaving. "And your hot chocolate will be right out, miss."

Rukia started to laugh as the waitress walked off.

"What?" Ichigo asked, not really enjoying the way it seemed she was laughing at him.

"Sir?" She was laughing again. "I'm sorry, It's just you, sir?"

Ichigo smiled, trying to show it wasn't getting to him.

Rukia's laughter faded, both could tell this was where the serious talk started.

"So what brings you back?" Ichigo began.

The waitress returned with Rukia's Hot Chocolate and Rukia nodded her thanks before responding. "Actually, my boyfriend had some business over here, so I decided to come along. Even though he'll be in meetings all the time I thought it'd be a break from the big city. Rukia said then added, "Plus, I was kind of hoping to bump into you." She briefly smiled up at him then ducked back to sip at her hot drink.

Ichigo decided to avoid the whole boyfriend/girlfriend conversation and made an attempt to keep their talk light. "So how long are you in town for?"

"A week." she wiped off her foam mustache just to take another drink.

Ichigo nodded and picked up his coffee, taking a slow drink.

"So what do you do now? Are you a doctor?" She looked at him like she knew everything about him.

He set his cup down, smiling that he was about to prove her wrong. "No, actually, I'm an architect."

He smiled at her surprise. "Really?" She had always expected him to follow after his dad.

"Yup. Have you see the new hospital?" He asked with more than a hint of pride.

"You did that?" She inquired, remembering it's geometric shape and thinking that the architect of it must have been some sort of god. And to think, it really was Ichigo.

"Yeah, I did." Ichigo confirmed then turned the spot light on her. "What about you, what do you do?"

She looked at her mug self consciously. "Nothing as grand as your job." He rolled his eyes. "I'm just an assistant at my boyfriend's firm."

"Law?" He was impressed, about her job of course, not that her boyfriend also worked there. Was it just him, or did Rukia keep saying 'my boyfriend' consistently? Was she trying to make Ichigo jealous or was his mind just playing with him? Either way, it seemed like she was trying to say something by it and it was actually getting to him.

"Yeah."

"Wait, are you your boyfriend's assistant?" Ichigo immediately found a dislike for this guy, especially if he was her boss. Office relationships never went well.

"No," Rukia shook her head as if she knew it was looked down upon. "But it is how I meant him." Like there was a difference.

Ichigo tried hard to hide whatever it was that it was he feeling. It couldn't be jealousy but then what else was it?

"What's his name?" Ichigo asked to keep the conversation going.

"Uh, Ryo Nakahara." Rukia answered suddenly feeling like she was being interrogated rather than catching up with an old friend. She needed to change this topic. "How about you? You seeing anyone?" Okay, so maybe she could've made a better attempt but she actually found herself curious.

Ichigo took a deep breath before replying, he too had realized how wound up he'd become. "Yeah, her name's Reira Sumiyoshi."

"How did you guys meet?" Rukia was no longer interested, just being polite. 'Reira' sounded so perfect and the way Ichigo had said her name, just so carelessly, like she was just another thing. But whatever, it's not like she actually cared.

"We met at an art gallery." He said, distracted.

'_OOo, an art gallery! How artsy! Weren't they just so cute. She's probably some hippy- art freak who only wears recycled material, the artist and the architect. They must have been made for each other_.' Rukia thought to herself sarcastically, then took another drink of her now cold drink. She was suddenly in a bad mood, though she tried to conceal it. She looked at the clock on the wall.

"Oh my god! Is that really the right time?" She exclaimed, Ichigo looked behind him at the clock, surprised by her outburst. "I forgot I had to meet Ryo...I'm sorry." She gave him a fake apologetic look.

Ichigo pulled out his wallet as she got up and put her purse strap on her shoulder. He plucked out a five dollar bill and left it on the table then got up after Rukia.

"I'm sorry. I forgot." She repeated.

"It's okay. It was nice seeing you, though." He really didn't feel insulted; he had had the same idea. He was actually sort of relieved she had done it first.

As she gave him a guarded hug and she turned away, she suddenly felt bad. She stopped short and turned back, calling after his retreating form. "Ichigo-" He glanced back, nodding for her to go on.

"I'm staying at the Ramada if you wanna get together again."

He gave her a short wave before continuing on his way. Rukia sighed and slumped her shoulders, she wished things could've gone better but maybe they'd get a second chance.

Ichigo was disappointed, even though he had tried to steer the topic off, it still went back and ruined their little get together. He had been so happy at first but then they had some how gotten the opposite and were practically at each other's throats. He really didn't want to go back to his apartment he shared with Reira, especially not in the mood he was in now, but he'd have to deal with her wrath sometime or later. And why wait? He might as well as get it over with.

He sullenly trudged up the two flights of stairs and got out his key to open the door when suddenly it opened before him. He stared at his beautiful girlfriend, looking at her through some what different eyes. After seeing Rukia again, he suddenly saw all her little bad qualities, comparing her to Rukia. She glared at him, not understanding why he just stood there, but then she shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"Where were you?" She asked in a clipped voice.

He sighed and flopped down on the couch, he didn't need this right now. "I bumped up with an old friend and we had coffee."

She eyed him suspiciously. "Was it a friend who's a guy?"

"Nope, It was a girl." He told her honestly, there was really no point in lying. It wasn't like anything had happened.

"All you had was coffee? That's it?"

"Yes, God damn it! Do you want to smell my breath? Why can't you just trust me?" He exploded, he just couldn't take it.

All of a sudden, Reira's eyes clouded up. "I'm sorry, it's just you know what I went through..."

Ichigo rolled his eyes, though she was too busy summoning fake tears to notice. "I know what you went through, but can't you ju- Never mind. I gotta get out of her." He said, getting up and opening the door. "Don't wait up for me." He said before leaving. He was only there for five minutes and he was already running out of there.

Once outside, he didn't really know where he was going. He thought about going to the bar, but that didn't hold as much relief as other things did. Other things such as going to a pay phone, and opening the phone book, flipping to the hotel section, dialing a certain number and asking for a certain black haired woman. She had said that her precious Ryo would be in meetings all the time, hadn't she?

A/N: What did you think? Tell me through reviews!!


	2. Or How To Say My Name?

A/N: hello, wow, I love you all. Thank you. I nearly died when I saw I had the amount of reviews I had. Seriously, I was hyperventilating and everything. That's not a usual thing for me, obviously, I guess. So yeah. Thanks, your reviews were helpful and I'm gonna try to work in all the things you thought needed clarification. It was coming anyways, but now I know what things you were unsure about. About Ichigo and Rukia's past, I will hint at it but I won't tell the whole thing. I plan on doing a prequel, just a whole fic on that... but I won't like not give you any information, I will give you enough to where you are caught up.. so, thanks and I look forward to giving you guys more.

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, the characters of bleach, or the idea (and lyrics) of CIWWAF's 'Miss Sobriety.'

**Hey, Miss Kuchiki**

Or How To Say My Name?

Rukia was mad. She was mad at Ichigo, mad at the bitchy sales woman who denied her credit card at the last store she was in, mad at Ryo for not answering her phone call, and just mad at herself for getting mad.

She didn't even really know why she was mad, but she had a pretty good guess it was because of Ichigo. He had just made her so frustrated. She regretted telling him where she was staying, not that she thought he'd actually call. She'd seen his expression when she had told him she worked with Ryo. She knew that work relationships didn't exactly always work out, but that wasn't any of Ichigo's business. He had looked so... disappointed and even slightly disgusted. That was part of the reason she was mad at him, she was still confused about how he had talked about his girlfriend, Reira. He had talked about her like she was a possession or something, like a trophy- item. That made her disgusted, not jealous; just disgusted.

It was all just so stupid. Rukia didn't even know why she cared. Sure, she and Ichigo had had something special, ten years ago. When they were 18 and young, naive teenagers. It's not like they knew what life was. They had moved on, both were involved with other people. Hell, they had hardly recognized each other earlier that day. They were just old acquaintances, now.

But, there was one thing she couldn't deny. She had felt a sense of nostalgia when she was with him and she found she missed how things were ten years before. She had felt comfortable with him, at the beginning that is. It kind of felt like old times, and she wanted that again. When Ichigo was young and so was she, when they had no worries, they could just be free to do whatever they pleased; not when they both had lives that came with daily trials and stresses.

"Good evening, Miss." The doorman greeted Rukia back at the hotel, opening the glass door for her. She ignored him and brushed right past, not in the mood to be polite.

She turned the corner from the lobby and pushed the button for the elevator to go up. The arrow pointed up dinged on one and doors soon opened. She sighed thankfully, there was no one in it.

Up on her floor, she briskly walked to the room, just wanting to get in. She dug around in her purse and found her room key. Impatiently, she stuck the card into the slot, waited for it to make a beep, then opened the door.

The room was dark and silent. It shouldn't have surprised her, Ryo said he'd only be in and out, but a girl could hope. She flicked the light switch on and room became brighter. It was big and impressive, but without someone to share it with, it was just as empty as a cheap hotel room. Rukia set her purse down and slid out of her pea coat, hanging it up in the small closet. She reached down and unstrapped her heels, massaging her sore feet as she stepped out of them.

Standing back up again, Rukia looked around the intimidating room unsure of what to do next. A T.V. standing in front of a small love seat looked the most comforting. A night stand stood next to it with a lamp, a phone, and the normal electric clock resting on it. She couldn't help but glance at the light the should be blinking if there was a message. She saw no light and immediately felt stupid for even thinking he would call.

She sullenly dropped onto the couch and picked up the cheap, plastic remote. She glared down at it, but still punched the power button.

A newscasting network further lit up the room and she quickly turned the channel. She continued doing so until she saw a clip from a show she found tolerable, where she then left it and put the remote back down.

The show wasn't all bad and she actually laughed at some parts. She was finally letting go of her tense feelings when the door suddenly opened. She glanced away from the T.V. to see Ryo enter.

"Hey," He called to her, putting his briefcase and his sports jacket down on the small table by the door.

"Hey." She called back, not bothering to hide her mixed emotions.

"What's wrong?" He asked, coming over to her.

Rukia sighed, she wished she could've tried to hide her feelings. Now he was going to get all 'therapist' on her. "Nothing."

He pushed her legs off the couch to make room for him to sit down. Ryo leaned forward to give her a kiss, she only let him kiss her cheek. He sat back and studied her, not believing her at all. Rukia kept her gaze on the T.V, not trusting herself enough to look into his deep brown eyes.

"Rukia..." Ryo said vying for her attention; he put an arm over her shoulder so she couldn't escape. Rukia discreetly enjoyed it. She liked his scent, almost as much as Ichigo's.

"Yes?" Her perfectly composed voice asked, her attention still away from him.

"Look at me."

She looked over at him, her expression impatient. He looked at her, confused. "Don't give me that look. What's wrong?"

"What look?" Rukia asked, agitated and trying to smoothly change the subject.

He raised an eyebrow, like she wasn't fooling anyone.

"Okay, fine." Rukia broke. "I don't know, I'm just... mad." She hated how he had a power over her and he always got her to tell him things she normally would just suppress. It was his good looks, she always said one day she would wake up and die of a heart attack after seeing him with his perfect hair and those eyes that just seared her.

He nodded his head like he understood completely. But he didn't ask any more questions, that was just another one of his good traits. He could take a hint after a while.

"How was your day?" Rukia asked, looking away from him and turning the attention from her to him.

"It was okay." He answered, removing his arm and stretching both arms up. He yawned like he was suddenly tired now that he thought about it. He shook the yawn off. "I didn't realize I was tired. Those meetings can really get to you. To think, I have five more days of that."

Rukia nodded her head and looked down at the floor, the show had gone to commercial break. She noticed he still had his shoes on and quickly looked at the time. It read 6:20.

"Are you going somewhere again?" She asked, feeling let down.

"Yeah." He said, resigned. "Sorry, it's just some important people asked me out for a drink. I couldn't exactly say no." He looked down at her apologetically.

She felt another surge of frustration. "But it's only 6: 25." She pointed out. "You can't drink this early."

He shrugged his square shoulders. "He said seven." Rukia noticed Ryo was placing the blame on this 'important person', like he couldn't of said no.

"But- But..." Rukia racked her brain, trying to think of some reason to make him stay. The ringing of the room phone interrupted her thoughts, and Ichigo popped into her brain. Ryo turned away from her to pick it up.

"Hello?... Sorry, I think you've got the wrong room." He hung it up and turned back to Rukia.

Her hopes that it was Ichigo were dashed. "Who was it?" She no longer cared what Ryo did or where he was going. She just wanted to be alone.

"I don't know. Some guy got the wrong the number, I think."

Rukia sighed, of course it wasn't him. He wouldn't call. She looked over at Ryo who sat there looking at the television. His perfect face and perfect hair... she shouldn't be hoping some other guy would call. She had Ryo, he cared for her, protected her, even loved her. He looked over at her with a 'sorry' expression again; that ruined the moment. She remembered he was leaving her and that she was mad at him.

"I guess I better get going." He hesitated on the couch as if waiting for her to jump him before he left or something. He was a fool if he thought he was going to get more than a peck on the cheek.

"Okay." She said coldly, even going as far as to turn the volume up louder.

"Don't be like that." He scooted closer to her again and lifted her chin so she had to look at him. She had given up on fighting and just glared at him.

"You know I'll be back later." He said, his mouth now at the base of her throat. "And when I get back, it'll just be me and you..." he trailed off, moving his mouth to her lips. She gave in entirely as he kissed her and she finally let go of her anger and kissed him back. But it was over too soon, and she found herself sad now instead of angry.

Just when she was starting to feel better, he had to make her feel even worse. She should be used to it by now, but it seemed his charm got to her every time. It was a new feeling every time he did that to her, and it was quite often that it happened.

She reluctantly got up after him and helped him back into his jacket, giving him one last kiss before he smiled down at her and walked out the door. She followed to the door and watched as he walked down the long hallway, feeling more lonesome that she had before he'd come.

Blah (this should be the damn spacer)

Ichigo had gone to the pay phone determined. Determined to call Rukia and tell her he was sorry for being the idiot he had been and that he wanted to see her again. He pictured they would be like they were a long time ago and they would make fun of each other for how they had behaved. He felt almost excited to call her, but when he got there he saw an older woman in there just talking away. It didn't appear she was going to end the call any time soon.

He looked around and saw a small bar, a gas station, a fast food restaurant, normal things you find on a street, just no other telephone. He looked down at his watch and it read 5:30, he looked around again and decided the bar didn't sound too depressing anymore that he had free time.

Ichigo entered the dim place and looked around, glancing around at the various drunk people. He wondered how they could drink so much this early as he picked up his own drink he had ordered. He didn't realize how ironic his thoughts were.

With each swallow of the beer he'd ordered, he begin to think about the day. Like, seeing Rukia. He had been happy so had she, but somewhere things had begun to get uptight. He knew he shouldn't of said some things but it wasn't like she had just sat there all innocently. She had provoked him, she knew how he had felt ten years before. So it was only natural that he was less then excited when she had gone around throwing 'my boyfriend this, my boyfriend that' everywhere. But that didn't mean he was jealous, just uncomfortable with the subject. After all, he had Reira.

Reira who was now at home probably crying her life away. Ichigo felt slightly remorseful about that, he really didn't have to explode like that. He should of known she would get that way, she always got envious. It wasn't her fault, Ichigo just tended to forget about what had happened to her. Although, she also didn't need to use that as an excuse to act the way she did. She should be able to trust him by now, they had been together for more that 6 months. Something Ichigo was surprised about himself.

He loved her and all, it was just she was always clingy and got jealous over the simplest thing. She wasn't like that in the beginning.

Ichigo hadn't lied when he'd said he had met Reira at an Art Gallery. He just hadn't told her the whole story. Reira was working there when he went there with a college group to get the 'Full Affect Of Art'. He had been wandering around on his own, not paying much attention to where he was going, much like earlier today, when he had bumped into a hurried worker. She had been holding a tray with glasses of wine on it, he still didn't know why, and they had all fell all over the place. Ichigo had, of course, started to apologize again and again with her doing the same thing.

They were carefully picking their way around the pieces of glass picking up the big ones and setting them on the tray when they made their way to the painting that had been hanging on the wall. They both looked up to it and started laughing at the same time. Coincidentally, most of the painting left loose canvas and the wine just happened to be red causing the painting to be a beautiful purple flower with a red splattered back drop.

Ichigo had thought it was an improvement and then looked to his side to see the artist who had accidentally done it. She had curly hair pinned up in a bun with loose strands framing her face. She was a normal height and size, but still looked beautiful. She had a scar that ran from her left ear to her collar bone, he had only seen the top part, it made her even more awe striking.

People's voices had interrupted his observation and they looked to each other with widened eyes. She grabbed his hand and lead him to a storage closet before they could be seen.

"But won't you get in trouble?" Ichigo had whispered, for some reason worried about this stranger.

She looked up to him, a sparkle in her light hazel eyes. She shrugged her shoulders like she didn't care, "It's just a job." She had whispered back, making Ichigo want to know more about this girl who confused him to no end. He wished he could be that carefree, he only didn't know how annoying a person like that could get.

He had realized only too late that she couldn't hold a job, had trust issues and major insecurities. He only stayed with her because he felt he still loved her and because he couldn't help but pity her. Not too long before him, she had been involved in an abusive relationship. That was how she got the long scar, along with other small things. He knew pity was not a good reason to stay but he had promised her he wouldn't hurt her and the times when she was like the Reira he had first met made it worth it.

When he had first met her, she was thoughtful, artistic and just plain awesome. He had always wondered why he got her, why she wasn't already married off. They could talk for hours and despite her shy and polite demeanor, she was really a spur-of-the-moment person. They could be sitting and watching a movie when she would jump up with an idea to do something totally crazy. He was hardly ever bored with her. But it seemed things had begun to wind down these last few weeks. She had been even more suspicious and cranky but at some point she would return to normal.

After he had knocked down two glasses of beer, he was surprised when his back pocket began to vibrate. He reached back and pulled out his phone. He was so stupid, how could he forget he had his cell phone? And here he had been waiting to use a pay phone.

He quickly flipped it open and put it to his ear. "Hello?"

Nothing, he checked the caller Id and he knew it Reira. He just didn't know why she had just hung up; that wasn't like her. After a few seconds the screen changed to the normal one and the times flashed, it was now 6:30. Without much more thought, he called up the operator and told all the information, soon he was being connected to Rukia's room.

"Hello?" A man's voice asked. Ichigo immediately regretted making the call, he had forgotten that Ryo could answer

"Yes, Hello. Is Rukia-"

"Sorry I think you've got the wrong room."

Ichigo looked down at the phone like it was a person. The man hadn't even allowed him to finish, and he was sure it was her room. Maybe Ryo just hadn't wanted him to talk to Rukia. Ichigo hated him all the more.

But then again, you could never trust those people who worked in the lobby's. They probably just wanted to screw up other people's lives because their's were as screwed up as they were going to get them.

Either way, he now had nothing else to do. He didn't want to stay here so he guessed he would just go home. He was hoping Reira was over her little fit.

This time, when he got to the door, he opened it himself. The apartment was too quiet for his liking, no sound of a tv droning, no sounds of the radio, no sounds of running water. He shut the door behind him and locked it. He saw Reira's purse on the counter and knew she hadn't gone anywhere. The door to their bedroom was closed and he slowly opened it in case she was sleeping.

Sure enough, he opened it to find Reira spread out on their queen sized bed. She was still in her dark blue dress, with the sheets twisted around her body. Her breathing was calm and looked so sweet and innocent.

He sat on the edge of the bed and leaned forward to gently kiss her cheek. He sat back up in time to see her eyelids flutter open. She looked up at him and he could tell she wasn't mad anymore. She smiled at him and lifted an arm. Ichigo thought she was going to stroke his hair or something when she grabbed his collar and pulled him down next to him. He had to think quick so he wouldn't fall on her, this was just one of her many spur-of-the-moment things. She rolled over to face him, "I'm sorry." She whispered.

Ichigo smiled back, this was the girl he loved. "It's okay, I'm sorry. I shouldn't of yelled like that." Ichigo murmured back.

She smiled again, looking like an angel. She began to close her eyes as she lessened the small distance between their faces, her lips landing on his.

He was happy, for now. He didn't know how he'd be tomorrow or the next day, but that didn't matter. What mattered was that he was happy at that moment.

Unlike Rukia, who sat in the 'fancy' jacuzzi she had discovered in their bathroom. Out of the million bubbles floating around her, not one of them brought a smile to her face. She sat there, brooding with her arms crossed over her chest. She, unlike Ichigo, was not happy, and didn't know when she would be really happy.

A/N: Okay, i'm sorry if Ichigo is a total dork. I'm listening to a Christian radio station at the moment and all that music is just getting in my head and making me all like 'love everyone, and they will love you.' it's like this awesome music is really just brainwashing you. joking. Christian Rock really is awesome. So yeah. Ichigo may be really happy and like not mad with his girly, but that's just this chapter. What i'm trying to say is, Ichigo is only this happy now, he's not normally that happy with Reira. Who knows what will happen next chapter? (hopefully me) Thank you, for reading and any suggestions or corrections or anything of the sort are welcomed. Thank You, AquaPurpleBubble.


	3. Do You Remember When We Were Friends

A/N: Hey guys, what's up? It's updation time baby! I hope you like this chapter. I tried to work in more ichiruki. Hopefully, it's enough. If not, I plan to kick in some more next chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, it's characters or the song 'Miss Sobriety' by CIWWAF.

Hey, Miss Kuchiki  
Do You Remember When We Were Friends, Yeah All The Way Back Then

Rukia's eyes popped open suddenly, as if she had been shaken. Alert, she sat up, the blankets slipping off of her body. The curtains were drawn and she could barely see light creeping in around the corners, casting a slight light around the room.

It appeared Ryo had already left a piece of white paper Rukia thought was a note laying on the small table confirmed the thought. She briefly remembered him coming in last night. After her soak in the tub, she had just gotten into her pajamas then into bed; not really in the mood for anything else. She had surprisingly feel asleep quickly and only remembered hearing Ryo come in, nothing more.

She yawned once more then slid off the bed, slightly stretching as she made her way to the table. Rukia picked up the folded piece of paper and straightened it out.

Ryo's sloppy hand writing read:

Good Morning,  
Sorry I didn't say good bye, I didn't want to wake you up. I have lunch off today. You want to get something together? Call me  
-Ryo.

She rolled her violet eyes as she crumpled the paper and threw it into the waste basket.

Typical. Not even an 'I love you,' or 'Love, Ryo'. Just '-Ryo'. He probably felt bad about the night before and didn't want to see her mad or anything so he had to leave quickly. The note was probably just an afterthought so he wouldn't feel guilty later.

She shook her head, annoyed. Pulling her hair up into a messy knot on her head, she went back to the bed and sat on the edge. Looking over to the clock, she saw it was already 10:30 and realized she had really been sleepy.

An idea forming, she reached down to the floor for her purse, not noticing that her purse had somehow grown legs and walked from the table to the floor. She picked it up and put it back down once she had her cell phone out. Too lazy to scroll through her contacts, she quickly punched in Ryo's number, not even taking into account that he could be in a meeting.

He picked up on the second ring answering with a dull 'Hello'. She immediately perked up her voice; he didn't need to know she was angry.

"Hey, sweetie." She crooned, catching him off guard with her unusual sentiments.

"Oh, hey. What's up?" she could hear the caution in his voice and she smiled confidently to herself, glad she was getting to him.

"Nothing. I was just wondering where and when you wanted to get lunch."

"Oh, uh… how about noon at the small diner we passed when we were coming into town?" It was audible that he was quickly throwing the idea together, telling her that she was right in assuming he had wrote the note to seem caring.

"Sure," She answered her voice still light and fake. "I'll see you later, then. Love you."

"Okay, then. See you," He said, hesitating as he then added "Love you, too."

She left it at that and snapped her phone shut with the silly confident look still on her face. She thought about what he had said, the diner. It was obvious he hadn't known where to say they were going and had blurted the first thing that had come to mind. She was glad she was planning on standing him up, the diner she was sure he was talking of had looked cheap and dirty, definitely not the place she would normally care to eat at.

Now, since she had that part of her day set out, she got to work dealing with the dilemma that had been eating her raw the whole night, Ichigo.

Blah (this should be the damn spacer)

"Ichigo… Ichigo… Ichigo…"

Ichigo slowly opened his heavy eyes only for them to be flooded with light; soon after a head blocked the light.

"Wake up." Reira's melodious voice called him out of unconsciousness.

He blinked his eyes again and looked around, his eyes slowly adjusting to the light.

"What time is it?" Ichigo asked, rubbing his eyes to speed along the alertness.

Reira looked behind from her sitting position on their bed. "Uh... it's almost ten."

"Shit, really?" Ichigo around Reira to see she was right. "I gotta get going," He began to untangle himself from their sheets, getting up, his sleepiness already forgotten. Only, he was held back by Reira.

"Huh?" She asked, giving him her pouty look while holding onto his arm.

He softened his expression. "I'm sorry, but I got to get to work." He leaned down to quickly peck her on the lips. She took advantage of it and deepened it, pulling him back on the bed. He lost himself for awhile then remembered the staff meeting that should be starting in about thirty minutes.

He moved back from her and looked down at her. "I really got to go."

She looked back at him ruefully but nodded her head, the sleeve of her lavender night gown slipping off. He pulled it back up then moved his hand to hold her chin; he leaned in to kiss her one last time before getting up.

When Ichigo finally got to his office, he was already 20 minutes late. Even though he had taken a speed shower and practically sped down the freeway, he was still tardy. Thankfully, no one turned the spot light on him when he tried to sneak into the meeting room quietly. Everyone was engaged in some heated discussion about when some building's blue prints needed to be published, so only a few people noticed him. He was glad he had spent some extra time on the memo the other day, giving him a little extra room to catch up to everyone else.

After the meeting, he was walking down to his cubicle when his assistant intercepted him. "Kurosaki-san! There's a lady on hold on line 3. Oh and here's the sheets you wanted from the printer."

Ichigo took the folder of papers. "Is it Reira?" He asked, unsure of why she would call him at work, especially since he had been with her only about an hour before.

The secretary shook her head. "No," he paused, thinking or remembering. "I think she said she was an old friend and her name was Ru- Ru. Ru-something."

She noticed Ichigo's surprised expression. "Do you know who I'm talking about?"

Ichigo shook the look off and nodded, "Yeah, what line did you say she was on, again?"

"Uh, line three." She called after him as he was walking into his small office.

Once there, he sat down at his desk and took a deep breath, telling himself not to freak out about whatever Rukia was going to say.

He picked up the phone and pushed the blinking button with the numeral three on it.

"Hello?" He asked, uncertain of what to expect.

"Ichigo," her voice was light but sincere. "Good, I was hoping to get you. I wasn't sure since you know, I really don't know…"

He smiled at the sound of her voice. "No it's okay, you found me. How did you do that, anyways?"

"Sorry, a magician never reveals their secrets."

He chuckled softly. "So why are you calling anyway?" He said it in a friendly tone, not wanting to scare her off; he didn't want a repeat of the day before.

"Oh, I was wondering if you wanted to get out for lunch. You know, to sort of re-do yesterday?" Her voice was careful.

"Sure," He stopped to look at his planner to see when he was free. "How about around noon?"

"Yeah, that sounds good. Where do you want to meet?"

Ichigo thought about it, wanting it to be a good place. "How about I surprise you?"

Rukia's voice sounded interested with a touch of humor. "Hmm… I'm not sure. Can I trust you?"

"When have I ever proved myself untrustworthy?"

"Too many times…" her voice had turned serious.

Ichigo sensed where this was going and made a go to stop it. "Well, you can trust me now. I promise. You will enjoy lunch."

Rukia's voice lightened. "Okay, I was kidding. I trust you. So where are we gonna meet at?"

"Uh, how about you just swing by my work and I can take us from there."

"Yeah that sounds good."

"Do you know how to get here?"

"I think so. Don't worry, I'll be fine. See you later, then."

"Yeah, see you later." He said with a smile on his face as he put the phone back on the receiver.

(An hourish later)

"Kurosaki-san, someone's here to see you."

Ichigo looked up from a paper to see Shinju, his secretary, poking her head into his office. He put his pen down and stood up, knowing it was Rukia.

"Send her in,"

Shinju nodded her head and disappeared for a second, only to reappear with Rukia. She smiled brightly, "Hey,"

Ichigo nodded his head, and said hello, too. He turned around to grab his sweater off of its hook. He turned around and found Rukia bending down to look a picture on his desk closer.

"Is this Reira?" She asked.

Ichigo put an arm through the arm hole, and did the same with his other. "Yeah, that's her." He said, trying not to sound anything but normal; he didn't want to have a repeat of yesterday.

"She's pretty," She commented absentmindedly and stood back up with a somewhat fake smile on her face, something Ichigo noticed but didn't pursue. "So are we ready to go?"

Ichigo glanced down to see she had a light sweater on over one of her signature dresses with a small purse dangling from her hand. She smiled warmly, seeming not to notice him checking her out.

"Yeah, let's get going." He held the door open for her and shut it behind himself.

"So, where are you taking me?" She eyed him suspiciously once outside, a small breeze playing with her hair.

"I can't tell you. It's a surprise." He said, laughing a little.

"Oh, come on! Just tell me! Pretty please," Ichigo fought hard to fight the smile that played against his lips and not to notice her puppy eyes.

"Sorry, but it wouldn't be a surprise if it told you."

"Fine, whatever."

He couldn't help it then and smiled in spite of himself. His smile soon turned into laughter and once he started laughing, he couldn't stop.

"What?" Rukia asked, with what Ichigo assumed self consciousness. "What is it?"

In between laughs, Ichigo managed to say, "Nothing, it's just," laugh, laugh, "With you acting that way, it reminded me of how you used to act. How we used to act." He smiled over at her, his laughter finally fading.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

He was no longer laughing but as he was walking, he continued to glance over at her while talking. "I'm sorry; I'm not laughing at you. I was laughing at us, at how we used to be. How we used to always be fighting and joking around, you know, it just made want to laugh at it all." He looked away again, feeling embarrassed for some reason, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, I didn't mean to get all… weird."

His embarrassment only increased when she didn't reply for a while, and he didn't want to increase it in any way, so he didn't look her way; he kept his eyes on the cement sidewalk that they walked on.

"Hey, are we going the right way?" She finally asked, although it wasn't quite what Ichigo wanted her to say, it was still something.

"Of course we are. I think I know the way to where I'm leading us." He said it smugly.

She looked over at him with jokingly narrowed eyes.

"See, here we are." He stopped in front of a small park with Cherry Blossom Trees scattered throughout it. Rukia hadn't noticed it, even as they had been passing by it, but now that Ichigo had pointed it out, she remembered it clearly; for a moment, she was speechless, remembering the memory that came with the vision of the park.

It was early spring, when the Sakura's were blooming. Ichigo was being oddly sweet and kind, Rukia was being oddly less demanding and more caring. They had both been 17, and you could say they were out on a 'date', though they probably would have called it something else.

It was the first time they had said they loved each other. Rukia remembered how happy she had been, but how confused it had made her. Either way, it was a good memory and it brought a sad smile to Rukia's lips. But she quickly changed it to something more chipper.

"What about food? What are we going to eat?" She asked, ignoring the feeling that made her want to cry.

"I figured we'd go to that small café thing across the way from here. Is that okay?"

Rukia nodded her head, but couldn't tell what Ichigo was thinking or what he was feeling. She couldn't understand the look on his face. It was caught between happy and bittersweet. But she didn't have time to further dissect his expression as her cell phone began to ring; interrupting whatever hint of a 'moment' they had been sharing.

She looked over at Ichigo as if looking for his approval. He gave her an odd look but still nodded his head, telling her to go ahead.

She pulled her small phone from her purse and saw that it was Ryo. Right before she was going to answer it, she remembered what she had set up earlier that day. Rukia realized that Ryo was probably sitting in that dingy diner all alone and had been for the past hour or so. She started to giggle just thinking about it.

"What? " Ichigo asked, feeling left out somehow.

Rukia stopped laughing but still had a smile on her face. "Oh nothing. Maybe I'll tell you later." She silenced her cell and put it back in her bag then added as if from an afterthought, "that's if you behave and you're a good boy."

Ichigo smiled ruefully. "Hmmm… we'll see how that goes. " The he pulled her off towards the small building that they used to eat in all the time.

Rukia followed after him, staring at their linked hands. A shiver of something slid up her spine and made her giddy; she couldn't help but squeeze his hand. She regretted doing it when he looked back at her uncertainly and glanced down at their hands; she feared he would let go. But instead, he smiled again and gripped tighter.

A/N: Hey! How'd you like it? Was it just a lot of crap crapily thrown together? Don't worry, I can take it, tell me! Through reviews!

And if that wasn't enough ichiruki, (I would like to ease into it) there will be more next chapter. I plan on some musings and some like uh…. Maybe a few arguments… some cheating suspicions… you know… just wait to find out! Please review, pretty please with a cherry on top? So please review. Thank you, AquaPurpleBubble


	4. You Caused The Confidence

A/N: Hey guys! Yesh!! Helly Yeahs i am BACK! lol. yeah... after so long and only to be a chapter redone... dissapointing?  
But this was needed! I am greatly sorry, but i had to, the previous chapter wasn't going along with what i wanted for the prequel. So i had to redo and i'm sorry its taken me so long, i've had school, cross country and lackage of motivatiion, but im back and hopefully the updates shall come more now! So please read and review and im sorry about the change, now it might confuse you... but i kept some things the same, others i changed. you have a surprise awaiting you! ;).

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or its characters or 'Miss Sobriety' by CIWWAF.

**Hey, Miss Kuchiki**  
**You Caused the Confidence but You Never Taught It How to Stay**

Ichigo turned his head from the section of warmed foods in the Super Market to see what Rukia was getting. It appeared she was going with a safe choice of a deli made sandwich, with, were those Circus Animal Cookies? He squinted to see, and sure enough, they were cookies. He shook his head and rolled her eyes, fully knowing now that she was still the same Rukia.

Their special café had turned out to be a bust; it had closed approximately ten years before. Both Ichigo and Rukia had realized how similar that was to their own 'story' but both had avoided the subject. Now, they were stuck buying little things they found in the Grocery section, planning on having a little makeshift picnic. Leading him to almost get a pound of chicken stripes, but when he saw Rukia wrinkle her little nose, he quickly decided to just stick with a sandwich, much like her. Not that he was doing it to benefit her or anything, or that'd it'd make her happy; he just didn't want to deal with her constant whining that he knew would come.

After he thought that, he had to rethink it again, his last thought made things sound like he still knew her as good as he did before. But he didn't, he really didn't know anything. It was weird, this feeling. It made him feel like she was a stranger or something. Like he hadn't known her, let alone loved her, ten years ago. It scared him and he immediately thought about something new.

"Sir, Here's your Sandwich." Ichigo felt slightly dazed, that's how deep his thoughts had gone, when the deli clerk had tried to hand him his food.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Thanks." He grabbed the wrapped piece of food.

The man nodded and Ichigo quickly wiped the confusion off his face as he turned back to Rukia to smile and nod for her to follow him to the checkout counter.

"What was that about?" Rukia asked, looking up at him to give him an odd look.

"What?" Ichigo asked.

"You spaced out back there." She said, looking forwards again, and then added absentmindedly, "You never used to do that."

Ichigo frowned, great, that thought just had to come back to him in some form or another. He almost wanted to stop right there and point out that he wasn't the same but decided against it, he didn't need to start any more fights.

"Hey, I'll take that." Ichigo reached for her food and went to the self-checkout center. He skillfully slid the items across the scanner and bagged them. Rukia smirked.

"Wow, You sure know you're way around those things, don't you?"

Ichigo slid his credit card through the slot and looked up at her smiling idiotically; he nodded his head. He pulled the receipt off its little printer and grabbed the bag.

"Come on. Let's go." He said. She smiled also and followed after.

Blah (this should be a small damn spacer)

"It's kind of chilly." Rukia commented outside, pulling her jacket tighter. She felt awkward, walking next to him, he was so tall, and she suddenly couldn't remember what she usually did with her hands when walking.

"You want my sweater?" He asked, looking down at her sideways.

She rolled her eyes, trying not to show how she felt awkward. But, since when was he so sensitive? "No, I wouldn't want you to catch cold or anything." She said it in a sarcastic voice.

Ichigo shrugged his shoulders, "Suit yourself."

"Can we sit over there?" Rukia asked, pointing a finger at a spot under a tree with some nice shade.

"Yeah, sure," Ichigo said, moving off the pathway onto the grass. She got there first and plopped under it, her back resting against the base of it. Ichigo sat next to her, his back also leaned against the tree. He sat the shopping bag down and got their things out.

"Ichigo," Rukia asked, looking out at the people passing and the kids playing.

Ichigo looked up from setting the things, "Yeah?"

"Did you miss me?"

He gave her a confused glance. "Of course I did."

"Oh." Was all she said, as if she expected something different, something that revealed more.

"Why do you have to ask, I mean, shouldn't that be pretty obvious?" Ichigo asked after Rukia said nothing.

"I guess I just wanted to know for sure. With the way things ended, I would've believed that you hated me." She looked at her hands almost self-consciously.

"Well, it wasn't just you. I did some of it, too." Ichigo didn't like the uncomfortable feeling that hung over them, making their conversations awkward. He also didn't like seeing Rukia feel bad, especially when it wasn't all her fault. He wanted to make her feel better.

"Yeah, but, I don't know, I guess I just really wish I could take it all back."

Ichigo sighed, something that hadn't changed was her stubbornness. "Look, I forgive you. And I'm sorry too but I think it would just be best if we forgot about all this shit and moved on. Okay?" He tried looking in her eyes, but instead hers looked away. "You know that things don't have to be awkward between us, right?"

She finally looked up at him and gave a halfhearted smile. "Yeah, I know. It's just that it's so hard."

"What's so hard?"

"Thinking of you like this." She said in a louder voice as if she were unleashing some force. "I went for ten years only thinking about you every once in a while. And do you know how long it took me to get over you? Even, now I'm not all the way over you." She was so overworked, that she didn't realize what had just slipped, instead just continued. "I don't know how I feel, I know that being with you isn't the smartest thing and its not the healthiest, but it's hard." She repeated. "I want to be your friend, and I want to keep talking to you and hanging out with you. I missed you, and I still miss you. Okay? So, I'm sorry, but it's hard."

Ichigo was still surprised by her outburst, but still managed to reply. "Okay, I'm sorry, too. I didn't know you felt that way, exactly. But now I do, and I want to say, I feel the same way. Kind of."

She let out a little nervous chuckle, "Thanks."

"Sure," Ichigo chuckled too, seeing it was okay as she had a smile on her face as she took a bite of her food.

"Ichigo?" She asked again.

"Yeah?" He asked, taking a bite of his own food.

"Since we're on the subject, what did you do after things ended the last time. Like, with yourself and your life?"

"I just tried to pick things up," He shrugged, "I got a job at a grocer y store," he paused to smile over at her. "I saved up money and enrolled in the local college. Things got better from there, I got over… things, got involved in an architect thing and soon I had worked my way up to where I am now. Not many big things happened…" He trailed off, making it seem as if his life prior to this moment had held nothing significant. "How about you?" He asked her, not wanting to keep things spotted on him.

"Well, first, I called my brother, got some money." Ichigo saw her look rather foolishly rueful, though he restrained from commenting anything along the lines of her lineage of money.

"He was disappointed in me, I spent a while on the phone, just taking his ranting about my 'choices', I didn't listen to most of it, I was still numb." She paused to look up at him sadly, but Ichigo felt something there.

She was definitely telling a lot more than he had, leaving nothing out. She even added things that should make both of them cringe but she said everything as if she were talking about the weather. It gave him the impression that she was completely over him, had no strings at all still attached, felt nothing more for him than he did for … Byakuya, but she had just barely said she still wasn't completely over him. And that little thought consoled him and helped him listen as she gave him the rundown of the last 10 years of her life.

"But then I guessed he was right, I needed to find my center, to find my meaning. So I rented a hotel room, stayed there for a while but it didn't feel right and I went home. I was there for a few months; he pulled some strings, of course, and got me into college. I went through that, feeling incomplete in a few ways. But I began to make friends, got serious with a guy." She looked up to gauge his expression. It was slightly shocked; he hadn't expected her to get this thorough with her story. "His name's Renji, but he's more like a brother now. Well, actually it's weird, because I used to know him, when I still lived with Byakuya, we were friends, so things kind of got different when I saw him again…. But that's over now, obviously. So, then I began an internship at the law firm I work at now, worked my way up to the job I have, met Ryo and you know how things are now." She finished breezily.

"Wow," Ichigo said, almost at a loss for words. "You didn't need to tell me all of that." He said, once he was thinking right again.

"No, it's okay. I know you said things shouldn't be awkward, and I realized that you were right. They shouldn't. I'm sorry for putting up that barrier, though things I think will always be a bit weird."

He nodded his head, "Yeah, your right, it was just a surprise, that's all."

They took a little break so they could eat for a moment, then Rukia spoke again.

"Ichigo, do you remember all the times we came back to each other?"

Her words brought a rush of memories back, most not very good.

"Yeah, I remember them. How could I forget?"

"Yeah, I don't mean to bring them up to hurt you or anything, it's just I also wanted to say sorry for those, too."

He smiled and couldn't help but laugh a little. "You need to stop saying sorry all the time. I told you, it's all okay."

She also laughed slightly. "I know, but I do want you to know I'm sorry for all the pain and stuff I caused."

Their smiles both faltered as they looked each other in the eyes, and knew both were equally apologetic.

Ichigo wasn't proud of those times, and felt he might as well as get it all off his chest just as she had seemed to do.

"Look, I know we're both sorry, but I think I need to say sorry for all the embarrassment I caused you. I never got to say sorry about that, we never really talked, just those few times when we saw each other." He hated how he kept beating around the bush, but he didn't want to say anything embarrassing, and he also didn't know any other way to say 'hook up', a nicer way. "It must have been embarrassing, me coming after you always drunk." He laughed though it wasn't a humorful subject. "So anyway, I just wanted to say sorry, too. But I do think we can stop saying sorry now." He smiled again, and noticed that Rukia was oddly quiet, she had been while he was talking, too.

She was looking away from him, almost purposefully. He leaned over so he could look at her and was surprised to see a tear sliding down her cheek. He saw it and automatically felt bad, she wasn't supposed to be crying they were supposed to be moving on. But he still felt the urge to comfort her nonetheless.

Rukia saw him and her violet eyes opened wide, she lifted an arm to wipe it away, but before she could, Ichigo's hand stopped hers. One hand still holding hers, the other wiped the tear off.

She watched him with her eyes still wide open, his the same. He didn't know what he was doing, only that it was what felt right.

He knew what he was doing was wrong, but he couldn't help it and it felt so right, so fitting and normal. He leaned in and gently touched his lips to hers. He pulled back to see her expression, instead of disgusted which he had guessed, it was … happy. Her eyes were half lidded and she leaned back in herself. Without being able to stop himself, he leaned back in and willingly lost himself in her lips. And that was when he knew.

He knew things couldn't end here. They wouldn't and nothing could stop that. Just like ten years before, they would ruin their lives just to be with each other.

It made him mad that he had no control over himself yet he should have seen it coming. He had been living a semi boring life, it wasn't boring, but it had no flavor, no more zest. Day after day, it was all the same, then Rukia came back into his life. It had to have been fate or something, he hadn't seen nor thought of her for a long time. He had gotten over her, it had taken a long time, but it had happened; and then just when he felt sure he was okay without her, she pops back in his life.

Whatever they had had ten years ago, had been real. It had had substance, and it hadn't died then. It never would, it seemed it would keep burning even if they never thought about it. That something that told him they would keep in touch also told him that he should break things off with Reira. That little nagging thing scared him; it was the unknown. He wouldn't lie, part of him wanted to ditch Reira and run off with Rukia, but they weren't 19 anymore, they had lives they needed to get to. The safest thing would probably be to just end things here, maybe a few phone calls or visits, but if they continued to see each other, they would fall back into their habit.

Though he didn't want to, he stopped the kiss short, slightly breathless. She looked confused but still happy.

Ichigo was afraid of what more could happen, he didn't want things to escalate anymore, even though it was so irresistible.

"I think we need to stop this," He whispered to her, his eyes as unsure as his voice was.

Her eyes popped open and she jumped back from his touch, his words and the loud series of a horn honking catching her off guard.

"Ryo?" She asked, her eyes going from Ryo getting out of his car to Ichigo sitting on the ground.

She stood up, not knowing what to do and afraid of both men.

A/N: So what did you think, if you already reviewed and can't again, just send me a pm if you need to. I enjoy any form of communication! So with love and devotion, AquaPurpleBubble.

p.s.- i didn't read over it so there might be some major oh-uhsss... hopefully not though... Sweatdrop.


	5. You Always Had A Price To Pay

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or it's characters nor do I own "Miss Sobriety" by Cute Is What We Aim For.

**Hey, Miss Kuchiki**  
**And If I Learned One Thing  
It's That You Always Had A Price To Pay**  
Chapter 5

The car door slammed shut and Ryo quickly stormed up to the two. Rukia moved forward to block his path. She quickly glanced back at Ichigo to see him standing there frozen to the ground with his eyes wide open. Seeing Ryo's anger almost made her feel bad for him but when she remembered the last words he'd said, she felt nothing but humiliation and the want to get him back.

Ichigo felt somewhat out of place. He watched Rukia urgently whispering to Ryo, pushing him back, basically protecting Ichigo from whatever pain Ryo could inflict on him. Ichigo could tell Ryo just wanted to tear him apart and that Rukia was the only thing stopping him. He saw the comfort they shared with each other and knew he was right when he'd said they needed to end things there. But when Rukia had looked back at him, he'd seen something in her eyes. Something a kin to hurt. He didn't understand it.

"Ryo, please just calm down and let me explain…" She pushed, looking him in the eye.

Ryo sighed and directed his eyes on Rukia, not before shooting Ichigo another death glare, however.

"Okay, listen, that was … a mistake…" She said lamely, her eyes wandering slightly. She thought that she had it all ready to talk about, but when it came down to it, she was tongue-tied. _If only those damn words would get out of my mind, _she thought.

"_I think we need to stop this… I think…. We need… to stop…. This…." _

They repeated themselves over and over again in her mind. Each repetition of the words washed that same wave of embarrassment and rejection over her.

"Is that all you can say?" Ryo asked Rukia disgustedly then pushed past Rukia towards Ichigo.

"You have anything more to add?" He pushed Ichigo back. "An excuse better than 'it was a mistake'?" He pushed him once more, this one rougher.

Ichigo caught his balance and backed a ways off.

He held his hands out cautiously.

"Why don't you just cool down, man, so we can talk this out like the adults we are?"

"Don't try to be civil," Ryo sneered. "I just saw you kissing my girlfriend, I don't want your half-assed excuses." He moved in closer to Ichigo.

Rukia watched nervously. Things weren't looking too good. She glanced around to see people shying away from them and giving them wary looks. It didn't seem like any of them would help. Leaving only herself to stop this all, even if she was increasingly angry and confused about the whole situation.

Just as Rukia made up her mind, she saw Ryo begin to throw a punch at Ichigo. She ran over there and latched onto Ryo's arm before it could do anymore damage.

"Bitch! Stay out of this!" Ryo exclaimed angrily and ripped her hand off of him, throwing her to the ground.

Before, Ichigo hadn't been fighting, he felt it wasn't worth it. But seeing him abuse Rukia that way just set him up.

"Don't treat her like that!" Ichigo yelled at Ryo, pushing him for once.

"What was that? Now you're telling _me_ how to treat my own girlfriend?!" He pushed back.

"That's not any way to treat a girl!" Ichigo rammed into the brown-haired man.

Ryo fell back and rolled Ichigo over, delivering a punch to his nose.

Ichigo fought to get free from under him, but instead he only continued to get beat up.

"Don't you dare tell me how to do anything! I'm not the one who goes behind a fellow man's back and kisses his girlfriend! That's no way to act!" He yelled as he continued to pummel Ichigo.

Rukia stood at the side not exactly knowing what to do and feeling slightly embarrassed as people passed by giving them weird looks.

Ryo hefted one last punch to Ichigo's stomach and got up.

" I swear, if I ever hear of you touching Rukia again, this will be treat compared to what I'll give you." He threatened then stalked back to his car.

Rukia hesitated. Ichigo sat up and wiped the blood off his face. She opened her mouth to say something but decided against it and walked back to the car.

Ichigo watched as they drove away.

* * *

"I think that it would…" Ryo paused as if thinking. "that it would be best to forget this ever happened." He gripped the wheel tight, staring at the traffic in front of him.

Rukia stared out the window.

"Whatever."

* * *

Ichigo stood up and wiped another line of blood from his nose, glaring at the people who gawked as they passed by. They all quickly averted their eyes and continued on their way.

He picked up the trash from the lunch and dumped it all in the nearest trashcan.

Ichigo shut the car door after himself and sat in before the wheel for a moment before he went back to work again. He took a deep breath and massaged his temples. That was a little more than he could handle. First, kissing Rukia, that was nice but a little too nice, then getting beat up by her boyfriend. Which brought up the subject of how he even knew where Rukia was and found them. The impression he'd just barely gotten from Ryo was a bad one, and he knew for sure that he did not like the man now.

He started the car and got on the road, slowly going back to work. Every time he's eyes strayed to the rear view mirror, they immediately looked away, for some reason, he couldn't look at himself. Maybe it was because he was disgusted with himself after letting himself get carried away in Rukia's current again, or maybe it was as simple as being the person a girl cheated on with… and getting caught, as well as cheating on his own girlfriend. Either way, he didn't like what he saw.

Nothing worth noting happened at work, the only thing making it slightly different from other days being the guilt and the confusion he felt about the happenings of earlier that day. Which only mounted as he got ready to go home.

Ichigo slowly drove through the streets, playing and replaying various scenes of what would happen when he got back to the apartment. All of them involved Reira somehow knowing what had happened through some psychological/psycho girlfriend mind power. Then she would proceed to torture him with one of her many guilt trip stories. Each scenario made him as nervous as serial killer on trial.

As well as imagining his defeat, he also was practicing how he should act in ways of innocence. He thought of all the things that would make him seem too obvious and the things that would make her suspicious. What questions she'd ask and how he'd answer them and if she would somehow be able to read unknown things into them. If she was in terms with Ryo and had already heard all about it and was just waiting to pounce on him as he came in with accusations and such. If she knew and didn't do anything about it, just to wait and see if the guilt consumed him. His ideas were random but the one that bugged him the most, and the one that was the most 'out there', was that if she kissed him, would she be able to somehow … smell Rukia on his lips?

All of his preparation dissolved as he walked up the stairs to the fourth floor where his girlfriend was and where his fate would be decided depending on how Reira was tonight. He hoped that she was in a good mood, but knowing how she'd been in the last week made him think otherwise.

Ichigo stood before the door and took a deep breath before unlocking the door and stepping into the apartment. Immediately one of his fears were calmed as there was no angry Reira awaiting his arrival. Instead he could see the small glow of the television in the next room. He quietly hung his coat up and made his way to the living room.

Reira laughed her melodious laugh and watched some show attentively. Ichigo stood in the hall watching her until the commercial came on. He swallowed and decided to act normal.

He kissed her on the cheek from behind. She gave a small jump in surprise at first then turned sideways to deepen it a bit. She pulled back and smiled at him. Ichigo almost sighed when she didn't smell Rukia on him.

"Your home early," She whispered, fingering his collar.

"I am?" He hoped he sounded sincere and not too put together.

"Mhhmm…" She sighed into his neck, slowly moving her mouth closer to his.

Ichigo quickly moved around the couch and sat besides her, letting her deepen their kiss. She eased him onto his back and kissed him a moment longer. She then slowly stopped and simply lay atop him. She rested her head against his chest.

"How was work?"

"The same boring thing it always is," he replied, hoping she couldn't tell something had happened.

"Oh? Nothing out of the normal happened?"

Ichigo eyed her suspiciously although she couldn't see.

"No, just that meeting and then… office work. What did you do today?"

"I went our for a little while and then just sat around here for a while. You know, the same thing I do everyday…" She tapped her finger against his chest.

He couldn't figure out what she was trying to get at, or if there was anything she was trying to get at.

"How about the next time I have a day off we do something together?" He asked, wondering if she was just tired of being alone all the time.

"But when will you have a day off? You're _always_ working." She said, propping her chin on his chest and pouting at him.

_Bingo_, Ichigo thought. _She's just feeling lonesome, stupid me for even thinking she knew what had happened today. And to think, I spent the whole afternoon obsessing over it_.

"I promise I'll see about it, and then when I have time off we'll do whatever you want to do."

"Anything?" She tested.

"Anything." He assured.

"How about we start now?" She asked teasingly undoing the buttons on his shirt.

"I think that maybe I could work that in with my schedule." He pulled her head closer to his, kissing her deeply and feeling somewhat more at ease.

* * *

Rukia sat with Ryo in awkwardness on the couch in their big hotel room watching TV. He snuggled closer to her and nuzzled her neck. She gave him an odd look, though he was too busy leaving small kisses up her arms towards her neck to notice. She figured it was the wine that they were 'sipping on' but still found it weird that he would do this when he was still supposedly 'disappointed' in her. Right after saying that they would forget about the whole affair, he had gone back and argued his right to be mad and saying that she was hurting him and a bunch of other bull.

As if that wasn't enough, she also had the weight of the confusion about Ichigo bearing down on her.

But here he was, trying to get it on with her. He moved a hand onto her thigh and ran it up her leg. She would have scooted farther away from him but couldn't because as she had been tensely cuddling with Ryo, there was no where to scoot to unless she got off the couch. Which she didn't want to do for fear of him getting angry with her.

His lips finally made their way to her mouth and Rukia tolerated it for only a moment more until he tried to slip a hand up her shirt. She pulled her head away from his. He sat leaning awkwardly across her.

"Ryo, not now, I'm not in the mood." She said, as he obviously didn't remember any the events from earlier that day.

He sat back, sitting up straight. "What's going on?" He shook his head in confusion.

He shrugged his shoulders. "So you'll happily make out with some ex-boyfriend from ten years ago but you won't even peck you current one?" He asked accusingly.

"How did you know he was my boyfriend?" She asked, turning the lighting to him.

He wouldn't allow it. "No, that's not what we're talking about. What's going on is that you would rather be with some other guy…"

"It's not that I'd rath-." Rukia was cut off.

"Who the hell is this guy anyway?" He asked, then answered his question before Rukia could. "I know he was your boyfriend and all but, what, do you guys just wait until like circumstances bring you together, or what? … Oh wait, is he the reason you decided to come with me…?"

At this point it seemed Ryo was beginning to mock Rukia in a harsh way. She could only sit back as he verbally lashed out at her.

"Thanks Rukia, thanks for setting me up…" He laughed sardonically

"What the hell are you talking about, you insolent pig? You have no idea what you are saying. I suggest you stop right now. You have no right to say any of these things. You do not know shit about what you are talking about for one, and I said I was fucking sorry and that it was a mistake." Rukia said, seething with anger. She stood up and faced him as he sat on the couch.

He stood up as well, now towering over her. "Don't speak to me that way," He looked at her down his nose. "I brought you here and this is your only place, don't think you can talk anyway you want with me…" he threatened.

Rukia laughed humorlessly. "Don't use that on me. You must forget I used to live here." She began to back away, glaring at him the whole time. She grabbed her bag and her coat and opened the door.

"Don't wait up for me," She said sarcastically.

Rukia got out of the hotel quickly and walked to the nearest little restaurant. She entered and made her way to the register where a portly man sat behind the desk.

"May I use a phonebook?" she asked doing her best to hide nervousness and trying to be polite.

He passed her a big book from under the counter and gave her a superior look.

She quickly thumbed through the pages, hoping that her old friend still lived in Karakura. She now regretted not staying in touch with Orihime as her friend had tried to do. Relief flooded through her as she found her old friend's name and saw the phone number listed right next to it.

She asked for a pen and quickly jotted down the number on the palm of her hand. She smiled as she handed the borrowed items back.

Outside the store, Rukia dialed the number and anxiously waited for the sound of the woman's voice.

"Hello?" the voice answered on the sixth or seventh ring right before Rukia would have given up.

"Yes, hello, is this Orihime?"

"Yes it is, may I ask who this is?" Rukia smiled as she heard her friend's comforting voice.

"This is Rukia Kuchiki."

"Oh my!!!" Orihime exclaimed in surprise. She began an unstoppable amount of words.

"Listen, listen." Rukia managed to slow the words to get through her message.

"I'm sorry, but I'm in a bind and I was wondering if I could crash at your house for just the night. I would really appreciate it." She appealed.

Orihime's smile could almost be heard through the receiver.

"Oh, yes. I would love to. It's been so long since I've heard from you but that will just make us getting together more exciting!"

"Okay, good." Rukia allowed another sigh in relief.

"Where are you? I can't come get you right now, because my car got totaled in this horrible wreck, well I'll tell you about that later. But anyway, I will have to have my boyfriend come get me so then we can pick you up, does that sound good?"

Rukia told her where she was.

"Okay, we will be there ASAP."

A/N: So what did ya guys think, huh? I hope it appeased your ten month wait... and ugh... i am mad that Ichigo and Reira had a nice night again, dammit, i will have to make the morning a bitch. anywhore, I feel kinda iffy about the arrival of Orihime, i don't know if i like her spot and Rukia running to her... but... eh.. it's the author'd dumb mind. and also, I hate myself for all the empty lies i tell...

As always,

Love,

AquaPurpleBubble


	6. I've Heard One Man's Trash

A/N: Miss me? Nervous chuckle… chuckle….

**Hey, Miss Kuchiki**

**I've Heard One Man's Trash Is Another Man's Treasure**

Chapter 6

Ichigo lay quietly listening to Reira's steady breathing, wary of every creak the bed made, careful not to wake her up. The light of morning had not yet begun to leak into the sky, and still Ichigo could not get back to sleep.

The night before he'd almost dropped dead once his head had hit the pillow, which was believable, as he'd had quite the day. What with first having _something_ most definitely happening with Rukia, then getting caught and nearly beat up by her jealous boyfriend, and then lying to Reira. It wasn't so much lying to Reira that made him feel bad, but that she bought it so easily and even sympathized with his lie of stressing work. Sure, he'd been relieved when Reira was anything but sweet the night before, but no amount of relief could drown the guilt that accompanied it. This guilt was what Ichigo blamed his inability to fall back to sleep on.

Ichigo closed his eyes in yet another attempt to lure his mind into unconsciousness, but instead he saw the night of his and Reira's seventh or eighth date. They were at the apartment that Ichigo had then been living in by himself. The two were just back from their dinner, making out and were dangerously close to his bed. He pulled her shirt over her head just like he would any other girl. She began to do the same to him when she noticed he had stopped completely and was instead, staring at her chest. Ichigo's eyes weren't locked on what could have been assumed but a jagged scar that cut across her chest. He would not have been surprised to be told someone had taken a steak knife to her.

Ichigo only stopped staring when he noticed his date was crying, and not just a few tears, either, but broken noises beginning to sound like sobs. He slowly backed away, giving her some space. At the time, he was extremely weirded out, not to mention turned off. This was not like any other date he'd ever been on and he'd never even been good with emotional girls to begin with. That had been why Rukia was so easy to deal with, she was quite the unemotional girl, very masculine, and had only cried a select few times. Each time Ichigo had either cautiously hugged her or awkwardly sat and offered his shoulder. He had never really known what to do in crying situations, and this was something that had not changed over the years. He hadn't been in any relationships longer than, at most, a few months, since Rukia and had therefore, easily avoided any such situations.

But this was different in a way. Prior to that night he had thought he'd recognized actual feelings for the girl he had been steadily dating and he didn't want to hurt her.

Seeing her crying then had made him feel guilty for reasons he didn't quite know. Had his staring really hurt her feelings that much or did she have some sort of complex about it? He didn't want her to think he thought it was gross or anything; he had just been surprised, that was all. But now, what could he do to fix things?

As Ichigo though everything through, the girl continued to cry, hiccuping and catching her breath. She took a few steps back and sat on the foot of the bed, with her shirt still halfway off. She looked so vulnerable and tragic, her bones visible through her light skin, and her body quivering with her tears. Her hands held her head as she calmed down and Ichigo moved towards her. He sat next to her and put one arm her, the other pulled her closer to him. He didn't quite know if he was doing things correctly, but he did it nonetheless.

His comfort seemed to have the opposite effect on her that he'd been hoping for and she only started to cry more. He had begun to move away from her again when instead, she held him closer.

After her tears had dried up and she had become okay again, she told him about her scar and how she'd gotten it. She told him that he was one of the only people she had ever told, and that because he knew, she felt so much safer and better. Reira had looked into his eyes, her own rimmed with red and shiny from the tears, and thanked him for being so understanding, listening so well, and for comforting her. His silence and action, she said, spoke louder than any patronizing words ever could.

This night marked the sentimentalization of Ichigo Kurosaki. From that day on, he'd be more careful around her, more respecting, and kinder in vain hopes that he could make up for the boyfriend that had hurt her so terribly. For in return, he wanted her to the girlfriend who showed how much she needed him, who wasn't afraid to put her feelings out there. In other words, a girl who could both fill the void Rukia had left, but also be everything she had never been.

Of course, the night also signified the entrance into a relationship in which neither of the two was really happy. Each were after an emotion or trait they had wanted when they were unhappy and sought to get it where it didn't exist. Both individuals were really only happy when things were the way they were in their dreams. Especially for Ichigo, this particular evening marked the beginning of a guilty and burden-some relationship. On he could only hope to get out of but could never get to nerve to end himself, never get the nerve to hurt the girls who'd already been scarred physically and emotionally.

The Flashback ended and Ichigo's eyes opened, Reira's breathing had become irregular and Ichigo anticipated her awakening. He stayed completely still as Reira moved on the bed, searching for him. She pulled herself closer, resting her head on his chest and her arm around him, then returning to sleep. Ichigo tried to relax under her arms but instead could only feel an anxiousness that was normally a kin to guilt.

He couldn't help but feel that even this simple embrace felt… empty. Nothing, no butterflies, no fear, no annoyance, maybe just the guilt that this was a lie. But besides that, there was nada. Except for the yearning, the sadness of something that was missing. Before, he'd always associated it with the relationship being new and that after a while, things would feel good, would feel right. However, when he was with Rukia, everything had felt perfect and now that he felt the hole again, he knew it was Rukia that was missing.

This realization both comforted Ichigo- he'd finally figured out what would make him happy, but it also made him sick with the reality that she was no longer his and he wasn't hers. That didn't even include Reira, who would no doubt be devastated that another guy could hurt her so carelessly.

Ichigo released a breath he hadn't noticed he'd been holding and closed his eyes again. This time he let his mind wander and instead of Reira's long, lithe body against his on, his mind recreated Rukia's small, petite body pressed next to his. Her small hands resting on his chest and her silken hair tickling his arms. He smiled in his light sleep, this created happiness filling his mind. Rukia's head moved slightly and her curly hair… Ichigo's vision didn't last any longer, as he realized that he was Reira, and not Rukia and would be for a longer while.

(Spacer)

Rukia's eyes slowly opened, awakened by the noises coming from somewhere around her. She recognized one of the voices as Orihime's as her senses slowly came back to her. Another voice was male and Rukia couldn't quite place it, although as she remembered the night before, she guessed it belonged to Uruyu.

She sat up on the couch she lay on and pushed the blankets Orihime had given her aside. Rukia looked around her friend's apartment and smoothed her hair down. The night before, Rukia hadn't given the room much thought and had only seen the couch, which was then, all she wanted.

The couch she sat on was one of two sectionals in the room and in front of her was a coffee table pushed farther than what looked normal. A medium television set was yet farther across from her and on her right was a hallway that looked to end with the kitchen where she could see Orihime and Uruyu cooking. Hanging on all the walls were framed pictures, and little flower accents decorating the almost bare, white walls. The room, although slightly plain-looking, instead gave off a classic and designed image.

Rukia got up and walked towards the hallway. She paused every few steps to more closely admire the many pictures. Old pictures of her brother and newer ones with what Rukia guessed were her current friends, and even pictures of their own high school memories hung on the walls. She stopped at one in particular that included all the friends, Rukia paid more attention to a younger version of herself smiling at the camera with Ichigo's arm hung loosely around her neck.

Rukia couldn't tell how she felt about the picture and instead continued down the hall. The hall opened up to a large kitchen with big, open windows. Orihime and Uruyu were making breakfast in a manner that can only be described as a 'couple' one. They both had smiles on their faces as they teasingly smeared pancake mix on each other's faces and bumped the others hips in time to the music coming from a radio that Rukia hadn't heard until then.

Rukia paused pushing herself into the wall so she could observe them a moment before they saw her. It was a surprise to see Uruyu acting in such a way; he normally behaved politely and quite frankly- boring.

After a moment or two, Orihime caught sight of Rukia and immediately stopped, Uruyu following.

"Oi! Rukia, you're awake!" She exclaimed. "We didn't wake you up, did we?"

Rukia took a few paces into the room, suddenly feeling slightly out of place. "No, I just barely woke up." She said, then smiled at Uruyu who acknowledged her with a nod. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything…?" Rukia briefly wondered if Uruyu lived here.

Orihime gestured for Rukia to sit on one of the few barstools near the counter. "Not at all, we're just making brunch."

"Brunch?" Rukia asked, looking around for a clock.

"Yeah, it's already a quarter after eleven." She laughed, then returned to mixing something in a small bowl. "Ishida picked me up and we've already been to the grocery store."

"Oh, wow. I must have been sleepy." Rukia accepted the cup of coffee Uruyu had handed her and answered her question as to whether they lived together or not.

"I take it that you slept well then?" Orihime smiled at her as she poured some pancake batter onto a pan.

Rukia sipped at her coffee. "Oh, yes. Thanks, again, for taking me in on such short notice."

"Of course." Orihime smiled at her kindly. "So, what are you doing in town, by yourself, even?"

Rukia set her mug on the counter and sighed inwardly. _That's right, we haven't had this conversation yet._ "Well, I'm not really here by myself. My boyfriend had a few conferences here and I came with him." The orange haired girl's eyebrows furrowed slightly and her lips parted to interrupt, but Rukia answered the question before she could. "Last night, we got into a pretty big fight and I couldn't stay with him."

Orihime's mouth formed an "o" of understanding and she nodded her head in a way that said they'd talk about it later. She really said, "Well, I'm happy you called me then."

Rukia smiled appreciatively at her friend when she then began another conversation, involving both Ishida and Rukia so that no one felt awkward. She warmly sipped at her hot drink, enjoying not only the cutesy behavior of her Orihime and Ishida, but also the security she felt with these people.

(Small Spacer)

"Now that Ishida's gone," Orihime said, plopping onto the couch next to Rukia. "You get to spill it, missy."

"Okay, okay," Rukia replied, knowing this was inevitable, plus it might actually help her – that is, if she could even figure out what had happened.

"What exactly did you and your boyfriend get into a fight?" Orihime began, absentmindedly toying with the fringe on one of her pillows. "Wait, who is your boyfriend?"

Rukia pushed herself further into the couch to get comfortable. It could be a while before she was done.

She then began by telling Orihime all about Ryu. How they'd met, dated and moved in together and became the 'stable' couple they were today. She told her about how he'd wooed her with many office bouquets of flowers, impressive dinners with Byakuya (something Ichigo could never do), fancy hotels, and all they talks they'd shared. It was clear throughout their beginning weeks that Ryu had been taught well.

She recalled a night when he'd taken her out to eat at a restaurant called The Forgotten. It's location was easily forgettable, it sat in the lower downtown section of the city they lived in and was on a street that didn't get all that many diners. However, everything else about it was anything but forgettable. The lights were dimly lit and the tables just the right size, small and yet providing. When you were in there, you felt peacefully isolated from all the troubles of world; almost as if time slowed down in there. The service was great and the meal was spectacular. Rukia was, needless to say, charmed by the evening.

As if the night could have gotten any better, Ryu pampered her and made her feel like she was the most beautiful woman on the earth. Their conversations that night proved him to be caring, sincere and just plain perfect seeming.

"So why's a beautiful woman like you still single?" He had asked. This evening was before they had become more serious.

Rukia had slightly giggled in response to his compliment, then said, "I guess I just used all my dating up in high school." She was half way kidding.

Ryu brought his drink up to his lips and took a sip. "Impossible."

"Then I guess I just have bad luck." She smiled in a joking way and then he caught her eye.

"Maybe its about to get better." He held her gaze until she had to look away.

At that time, she had begun to think that perhaps her luck had changed for the better and that she'd hit the jackpot more than once when she'd gotten her job at the law firm. But as the weeks went on and she and Ryu moved in with each other, it seemed that Ryu really only cared about his job and other trophy-like objects. His sweetness slowly began to diminish, just like a piece of ice slowly melts. However, Rukia couldn't just break up with him. He'd obviously invested too much time in her and things had progressed too far to end things just like that. Plus, there were times when he was dearly sweet, just like he'd been when they'd first starting seeing each other and it was hard to give those times up.

Rukia finished her small bio on Ryu and looked at Orihime looked at Rukia understandingly.

"Since I was back in town, I bumped in Ichigo and after that, we decided to get together. I can't exactly say what happened, but one thing lead to another and we ended up kissing." At this point, Orihime's eyebrows shot up. "I don't know how, but Ryu found us and Ichigo and Ryu got into a fight. Ryu started acting weird after that, and then last night when he tried to make moves on me, I got angry and left." Rukia sighed and quickly looked at Orihime to gauge her reactions. "I just don't really know what's going on, or what to do…"

Orihime reached her arm over and patted Rukia's hand encouragingly. Rukia didn't quite know why, but the gesture suddenly made her start laughing. It was just so polite and inappropriate for the moment. Orihime soon followed, and after a moment both were laughing.

(spacer)

Ryu sat in a cab that was bringing him back from a meeting, the last one he would need to go to. He and Rukia had planned to stay for a few more days after his meetings ended, but without her, he felt no reason to stay. He also predicted that she'd soon call and ask for forgiveness, which is what ended up happening the last few times they'd fought. If that didn't work, then he thought for sure if he threatened to leave her in Karakura, that she'd come back to him. Either way, he knew she would be back and want forgiveness.

He got up to the room and sat watching television for some time, every once in while he would check his phone, but there were still no calls or messages. After two or so hours, his resolve weakened and he called her number. He was annoyed when she finally picked up on the sixth ring and his annoyance mounted when she greeted him insolently.

"What do you want?" She asked. She had been watching a movie with Orihime when he'd called. Despite Orihime's warnings, Rukia had answered the phone.

For a quick moment, Ryu was knocked off by Rukia's acknowledgement, and it took him a moment to formulate his next words. "I'll be leaving tomorrow." He said figuring that if she wouldn't immediately apologize, he would have to threaten her.

"And…?" Rukia asked, clearly not caring in the least bit.

He was further more confused by her words. "I just wanted to let you know so that you don't expect me to help you."  
"Don't worry," Rukia said evenly. "I don't." She then hung the phone up.

Ryu balked at the phone. She had never acted that way before, but he quickly pushed the thought aside and anger replaced his surprise. He decided he would leave and give her a few days. She was probably still riding the high horse she'd gotten on when she'd left him. After she realized she didn't have anywhere else to go, she'd come back to him. And he'd be waiting.

A/N: So I guess you could say this is kind of a filler chapter. Not much happens, but hopefully it will give you a little more insight… and show that I will not give up on Fanfiction no matter what.

Thanks times a million to all you guys who are still reading this. I know I'm in like the second years of this fic and only on the sixth chapter, with a like a one every five month update. I apologize. I lost my footing for a long while there. But thanks if you're reading this.

With Love and Devotion,

AquaPurpleBubble


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